WHITE PLAINS—The New
York Power Authority (NYPA) Trustees today authorized the selection
of Astoria Energy LLC to provide economic, clean and reliable power
supply to NYPA’s governmental customers in New York City.

Astoria Energy plans to
build a new clean natural gas-fueled generating plant in Queens to
supply power under a proposed 20-year contract with NYPA. The plant
will help make up for the Power Authority’s scheduled retirement in
January 2010 of the Charles Poletti Power Project, also in Queens.

The NYPA Trustees
authorized the new supply contract, pending completion of final
negotiations with Astoria Energy and the approval of the agreement
by the New York City governmental customers, for the supply of 500
megawatts (mw) of generating capacity. The customers include the
City of New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York City Housing
Authority and the New York State Office of General Services.

The action by the NYPA
board resulted from the Power Authority’s review, in close
collaboration with the New York City governmental customers, of more
than 30 competing proposals from nine prospective suppliers for new
in-city capacity. The bids stemmed from NYPA’s issuance of a Request
for Proposals (RFP) last November.

“The new supply
contract will lead to additional economical generating capacity for
New York City schools and hospitals, the subways and commuter
trains, public housing and other essential services in the city
while curbing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” Gov. David A.
Paterson said. “Responsible, environmentally conscious energy
policies are essential for meeting growing electricity demand and
stabilizing future costs. Awarding this contract will be in keeping
with those policies.”

“Clean, reliable and
affordable energy supplies are crucial for New York City’s long-term
needs,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said. “We’re gratified to be
partnering with the New York Power Authority on this initiative as
part of a series of well planned measures that are consistent with
PlaNYC, the city’s blueprint for a sustainable energy future.”

“The selection of
Astoria Energy’s proposal ties in with Governor Paterson's and Mayor
Bloomberg’s goals for shoring up the city’s energy infrastructure to
meet the power demand challenges of the next few decades,” Roger B.
Kelley, NYPA president and chief executive officer, said.

“This new
state-of-the-art, natural gas-fueled power plant will improve New
York City’s air quality by displacing electricity production from
older, dirtier and less efficient generating capacity,” Ashok Gupta,
Air and Energy Program Director, Natural Resources Defense Council,
said. “When combined with aggressive energy efficiency programs like
the state’s ‘15 by 15’ Plan, the result will be improvement in
public health, reduction in global warming pollution and the lowering
of electricity bills.”

The new facility
planned by Astoria Energy will use a combined-cycle technology in
which hot exhaust gas normally lost in the combustion process is
captured by heat-recovery steam generators to produce additional
electricity. In doing so, the new facility will consume 30 percent
less fuel per unit of electricity than a conventional power plant.

Astoria Energy expects
the new plant, which is fully licensed, to be in service by the
summer of 2011.

In 2001, the New York
State Siting Board approved the construction of 1,000 mw of
generating capacity at a 23-acre site in Astoria. Astoria Energy
completed the first phase of the project in May 2006 when it placed
in service a 500-mw combined-cycle facility for providing power to
Con Edison. The pending supply contract with the Power Authority
provides for Astoria Energy’s implementation of the next phase with
the construction of the second 500-mw facility.

The evaluation criteria
for the RFP that led to the selection of the Astoria Energy proposal
included project economics, probability of timely completion,
improvement to regional air quality and citywide reduction in
electricity costs. The New York City governmental customers fully
participated in the evaluation process and unanimously supported the
selection of the Astoria Energy proposal for the new combined-cycle
facility.

In addition to that
proposal, NYPA previously selected a joint proposal by Hudson
Transmission and FPL Energy, in November 2006, stemming from another
RFP. This would involve construction of a new 345-kilovolt
transmission line under the Hudson River to deliver up to 500 mw of
supply capacity from an existing power plant in Central New Jersey.

The additional power
supplies from both RFPs are needed for the New York City
governmental customers’ long-term needs. The Power Authority
currently serves the customers from various electric generating
facilities and wholesale energy market purchases.

NYPA also works in
partnership with the governmental customers on their energy
efficiency efforts. Projects ranging from new fluorescent lighting
to new heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems are in
various stages of development at more than 700 public facilities in
New York City. The improvements are part of NYPA’s plans to invest
$1.4 billion over the next several years to help achieve the state’s
goal of reducing statewide electricity use by 15 percent from
forecasted levels by 2015 (“15 by 15” Plan).

To date, the Power
Authority has completed energy efficiency projects at more than
1,400 public facilities in the city. The initiatives have resulted
in annual savings of approximately $64 million, reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions of more than 530,000 tons a year and
displacement of nearly 1.3 million barrels of oil annually.

About NYPA:

■ NYPA uses no tax money or
state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of
bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of
electricity. ■ NYPA is a leader in promoting
energy-efficiency, new energy technologies and electric
transportation initiatives. ■ It is the
nation’s largest state-owned electric utility, with 18 generating
facilities in various parts of the state and more than 1,400
circuit-miles of transmission lines.